Wireless remote-control cooler assembly for motherboard

ABSTRACT

A wireless remote-control cooler assembly adapted to be used with a motherboard include a fan, and a circuit unit electrically connected with the fan and adapted to be electrically connected with the motherboard for obtaining power supply from the motherboard. A first signal transceiver module is electrically connected to the circuit unit and provided with a first transmitter for transmitting a feedback signal indicating the operation status of the fan, and a first receiver. A second signal transceiver module is adapted to be electrically connected to the motherboard and provided with a second receiver for receiving the feedback signal, and a second transmitter for transmitting a control signal to the first receiver to regulate the operation status of the fan via the circuit unit.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to computer hardwares and moreparticularly, to a wireless remote-control cooler assembly for amotherboard.

2. Description of the Related Art

According to conventional techniques, the cooling of a motherboard isdone by means of mounting at least one fan at a boarder of themotherboard and/or at a location adjacent to a specific chip set on themotherboard and then electrically connecting each fan to the motherboardwith multiple electric wires through which the motherboard providespower supply to each fan and controls the operation of each fan to causeair current for carrying heat energy away from the motherboard.

In the aforesaid arrangement, the electric wires that connect each fanto the motherboard constitute a control loop for enabling themotherboard to control the operation of each fan. Under the condition ofbeing not modify the layout design of the circuit board, the fan canonly be installed at the border of the motherboard or at a specificallyassigned location. This design does not provide flexibility to the faninstallation. It enables the air current to flow only in a limited spacearea of the motherboard. Therefore, this design cannot achieve the bestoptimal heat dissipation effect.

Further, when multiple fans are installed to provide enhanced heatdissipation efficiency, the arrangement of the complicated electricwiring greatly increases the cost. Arranging a big number of electricwires in the same work space affects flowing of air current and lowersthe heat dissipating efficiency. In other words, increasing the numberof fans cannot effectively eliminate the problem of poor dispersion ofheat energy in the center area of the motherboard. Further, thearrangement of a big number of electric wires complicates the mechanicsinspection or dismounting operation, making the maintenance workdifficult.

Therefore, it is desirable to provide a cooler assembly for motherboardthat eliminates the aforesaid problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been accomplished in view of the above-notedcircumstances. It is therefore one objective of the present invention toprovide a wireless remote-control cooler assembly for a motherboard,which can be installed on a motherboard subject to actual heatdissipation requirement, improving the heat dissipation effect.

It is another objective of the present invention to provide a wirelessremote-control cooler assembly for a motherboard, which can save wiringconsumption, and facilitate inspection and dismounting operation duringa maintenance work.

To achieve these objectives of the present invention, the wirelessremote-control cooler assembly adapted to be used with a motherboardcomprises a fan, a circuit unit electrically connected with the fan andadapted to be electrically connected with the motherboard for obtainingpower supply from the motherboard, a first signal transceiver moduleelectrically connected with the circuit unit, and a second signaltransceiver module adapted to be electrically connected with themotherboard. The first signal transceiver module includes a receiver.The second signal transceiver module comprises a transmitter fortransmitting a control signal to the receiver of the first signaltransceiver module to regulate the operation status of the fan throughthe circuit unit.

By means of the aforesaid arrangement, the wireless remote-controlcooler assembly of the present invention can be installed on themotherboard at any suitable location subject to actual heat dissipationrequirement, for example, the center area of the motherboard. Therefore,the invention eliminates the drawback of installation limitation of theprior art. Further, the invention saves wiring consumption, simplifyingthe arrangement of wiring, and facilitating inspection and dismountingoperation during maintenance work.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention to be detailedlydescribed hereinafter, the first signal transceiver module furtherincludes a transmitter for transmitting a feedback signal indicating theoperation status of the fan, and the second signal transceiver furtherincludes a receiver for receiving the feedback signal from thetransmitter of the first signal transceiver. In addition, the circuitunit includes a circuit board having a plug terminal adapted to beelectrically connected to a power socket of the motherboard forobtaining power supply from the motherboard. Further, a mounting frameis used to secure the circuit unit and the fan together; a bus line isused to electrically connect the circuit unit with the fan in a shortdistance.

Preferably, the control signal and the feedback signal are transmittedby means of one of the techniques of infrared ray, radio frequency andbluetooth. In addition, the control signal is preferably a pulse widthmodulation signal for controlling the circuit unit to regulate therotational speed of the fan.

Further scope of applicability of the present invention will becomeapparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, itshould be understood that the detailed description and specificexamples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, aregiven by way of illustration only, since various changes andmodifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The present invention will become more fully understood from thedetailed description given herein below and the accompanying drawingswhich are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitativeof the present invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a wireless remote-control coolerassembly in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the wireless remote-control coolerassembly in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, and

FIG. 3 is a circuit block diagram of the wireless remote-control coolerassembly in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 1-3, a wireless remote-control cooler assembly 10 inaccordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention is showncomprising a fan 20, a circuit unit 30, a first signal transceivermodule 40, and a second signal transceiver module 50. As shown in FIG.1, the wireless remote-control module 10 is used with a motherboard 60.

The fan 20 is a conventional DC electric fan. Therefore, no furtherdetailed description in this regard is necessary.

The circuit unit 30 includes a printed circuit board provided at abottom thereof with a plug terminal 32 connectable to a power socket 62of the motherboard 60 for obtaining power supply from the motherboard60. The circuit unit 30 is coupled to the fan 20 by a mounting frame 33,and electrically connected to the fan 20 by means of a bus line 34 in ashort distance for controlling on/off status of the fan 20.

The first signal transceiver module 40 is electrically connected to thecircuit unit 30 and provided with a first transmitter 42 and a firstreceiver 44. The first signal transceiver module 40 detects theoperation status of the fan 20 through the circuit unit 30 and transmitsa feedback signal carrying the information of the detected operationstatus of the fans 20 out of the first transceiver module 40 through thefirst transmitter 42. The feedback signal contains at least, but notlimited to, the information relating to the rotational speed of the fan20. According to this embodiment, the feedback is transmitted, but notlimited to, by means of infrared rays. That is, the feedback signal canbe transmitted by means of infrared rays, radio frequency, or bluetoothtechnique in practice.

The second signal transceiver module 50 is adapted to be electricallyconnected to and mechanically mounted on the motherboard 60. The secondsignal transceiver module 50 includes a second transmitter 52 and asecond receiver 54. The second receiver 54 is adapted for receiving thefeedback signal from the first transmitter 42 and transmitting it to themotherboard 60, enabling the motherboard 60 to monitor the rotationalspeed of the fan 20. When regulating the rotational speed of the fan 20,the motherboard 60 drives the second transmitter 52 to transmit acontrol signal to the first receiver 44 of the first transceiver module40, controlling the circuit unit 30 to regulate the rotational speed ofthe fan 20. The control signal is a pulse width modulation (PWM) signalfor controlling the circuit unit 30 to regulate the rotational speed ofthe fan 20, thereby changing the operation status of the fan 20.According to this embodiment, the control signal is transmitted, but notlimited to, by means of infrared rays. As will be however appreciated,the control signal can be transmitted by means of infrared rays, radiofrequency, or bluetooth technique.

During the operation of the fan 20, the first signal transceiver module40 transmits a feedback signal to the second signal receiver module 50at the motherboard 60 so that the motherboard 60 can control theoperation of the fan 20 subject to the information carried in thefeedback signal. When it is necessary to change of the rotational speedof the fan 20 in regulating the heat dissipation performance, themotherboard 60 drives the second signal transceiver module 50 totransmit a control signal to the first signal transceiver module 40,causing the circuit unit 30 to regulate the rotational speed of the fan20, and therefore the heat dissipation efficiency is relativelyregulated.

As indicated above, the wireless remote-control cooler assembly of thepresent invention can be installed on the motherboard 60 at any locationsubject to actual heat dissipation requirement, for example, the centerarea of the motherboard 60. Therefore, the invention eliminates thedrawback of installation limitation of the conventional designs.Further, the invention saves wiring consumption, simplifying thearrangement of wiring, and facilitating inspection and dismountingoperation during maintenance work.

The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same maybe varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as adeparture from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all suchmodifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intendedto be included within the scope of the following claims.

1. A wireless remote-control cooler assembly adapted to be used with amotherboard, the wireless remote-control cooler assembly comprising: afan; a circuit unit electrically connected with the fan and adapted tobe electrically connected with the motherboard; a first signaltransceiver module electrically connected to the circuit unit andprovided with a receiver; and a second signal transceiver module adaptedto be electrically connected with the motherboard and provided with atransmitter for transmitting a control signal to the receiver toregulate the operation status of the fan via the circuit unit.
 2. Thewireless remote-control cooler assembly as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe transmitter transmits the control signal by means of one of thetechniques of infrared ray, radio frequency and bluetooth.
 3. Thewireless remote-control cooler assembly as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe first signal transceiver module further comprises a transmitter fortransmitting a feedback signal indicating the operation status of thefan; the second signal transceiver further comprises a receiver forreceiving the feedback signal from the transmitter of the first signaltransceiver.
 4. The wireless remote-control cooler assembly as claimedin claim 1, wherein the control signal is a pulse width modulationsignal for controlling the circuit unit to regulate the rotational speedof the fan.
 5. The wireless remote-control cooler assembly as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the circuit unit includes a circuit board having a plugterminal adapted to be electrically connected to a power socket of themotherboard for obtaining power supply from the motherboard.
 6. Thewireless remote-control cooler assembly as claimed in claim 1, furthercomprising a mounting frame that secures the circuit unit and the fantogether, and a bus line electrically connecting the circuit unit withthe fan.